Vampire Weekend - Father of the Bride

Oh I like "my mistake" ! It has a very cool oldies harmonic structure.

Keats and Yeats thing is a joke of two things that should go together (poets) and look like they should rhyme but don't.

The whole new episode of Time Crisis is him chatting bits about the album with Jake Longstreth and Ariel Rechtshaid while playing it back in sequence.

My Mistake is nice on its own, but it brings the flow of the album to a grinding halt imo

Keats and Yeats thing is a joke of two things that should go together (poets) and look like they should rhyme but don't.

Yeah, to me it's the same kind of playful song as Gershwin's "Let's call the whole thing off".

also a ref to the Smiths' "Cemetery Gates."

Still clangs.

i haven't given this enough plays to really absorb all of its parts yet, but, my initial feelings are not good.

this is exactly the kind of music that usually gets right to me: witty, canny, layered, bright, referential, colorful, accomplished, winsome, charming, self-aware, subtle hints of gloom... but holy cow am i not in the mood for this shit right now. thanks guys great record here's your A+ now fuck off, is how i break it down to an extent

hi, goole!

the new Pure Bathing Culture record is shockingly terrific and pfork dismissed it so i'm in a bad mood about indie tentpole releases at the moment!!

and, hi!

had this playing in one earbud just now and it was sort of blending into the background until "My Mistake" comes on. After starting it over with both earphones it was quite different in isolation and pretty cool.

goole :)

sup goole

I’m really into this record, but, other than the opening track, most of my favorites are the ones that were released earlier

Now that I’ve sat with this album for a few days: I give Ezra credit for stretching and trying for something that doesn’t feel like a rote follow-up to the last one. But for me, all the places where stretched just don’t work for me.

So, as is inevitable with double albums in the age of customizable playlists, I made my own version of this album that cuts out 7 tracks. And the result is... a rote follow-up to the last record. Sue me, this is what I wanted. Based on what I’m reading this probably eliminates everything you all are finding compelling about this record, but for me this makes the album 5x more enjoyable.

Hold You Now (feat. Danielle Haim)
Bambina
Big Blue
How Long?
Unbearably White
Rich Man
Sympathy
Flower Moon (feat. Steve Lacy)
2021
Spring Snow
Jerusalem, New York, Berlin

yah im not feeling this. it sounds like it was optimized to be played at coachella/festival circuit, the sound is way too widescreen normie indie c 2015.. i blame ezra moving to california (why does everyone do this in their thirties? lol.. kinda corny)

This is the worst album title/cover art combo I’ve seen in a very long time.

prob good to give this guy the benefit of the doubt that every iota has been obsessively considered. certainly to a fault in some cases, but it's not like any of this is random. this is the best interview i've seen from this press cycle: https://www.coupdemainmagazine.com/vampire-weekend/15590

im still hopeful that large parts of this will grow on me though; i didn’t like modern vampires until like a year after i first heard it. ‘this life’ is so great

‘how long’ is kinda great too

yeah pgwp you don’t f/w “this life”?

WELL BABY I KNOW DEATH
PROLLY HASN'T HAPPENED YET
CUZ I DON'T REMEMBER LIVING LIFE BEFORE THIS

These interviews are interesting, but I'm still waiting for one where he mentions bandmates who aren't a) "collaborators" or b) Rostam.

Yeah "this life" is definitely one of the best tracks on the album.
So is "big blue". The singles choices were pretty good (except for "sunflower" obviously !).

ok warming up to this p quick lol. ‘unbearably white’ is beautiful

too late

ahah, in 12 hours !

yeah pgwp you don’t f/w “this life”?

― k3vin k., Tuesday, May 7, 2019 Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I think it’s corny. Aside from the “I’ve been cheating on you” line it sounds like a song for a montage in a teen comedy.

The entire album is pretty "corny".

Ezra Corny

I put myself through this whole thing earlier. For the first half I was thinking that I didn't hate it so much but it wasn't especially good, then it started to grate a bit more. I'll say that I wasn't forced to turn it off but that's all I'll say. I was never in their corner anyway so eh, like whatever you want to like. It does feel a bit sad that this band gets 200+ new answers for a mediocre album when other etc etc etc

the orchestra hit in “unbearably white” is unbearably good

not sure how i feel about ‘sympathy’... psych folk stomper is a weird look for them

rich man -> married in a gold rush -> my mistake -> sympathy -> sunflower

i don’t really dislike any of these songs but this run kills the album. album kicks ass both before and after it but also feels like it’s constantly getting started until it ends

yeah totally agree with that, that whole run feels like a misfire

"Married in a Gold Rush" is my fave of the proper D. Haim duets. I'd like "We Belong Together" if it weren't for the lyrics (though I do like the last minute of it).

"Sympathy" rules

rich man -> married in a gold rush -> my mistake -> sympathy -> sunflower

i don’t really dislike any of these songs but this run kills the album. album kicks ass both before and after it but also feels like it’s constantly getting started until it ends

― american bradass (BradNelson)

I like "Sympathy," otherwise quite otm

yeah that’s very otm

i don’t hate ezra’s corny country couplets and overall there are enough successes to justify his strategy of moving away from lyrics built around ‘expensive words’ towards writing simple straightforward love songs... but some of them (the United States one in ‘we belong’ has yet to fail to make me groan) are just like.. c’mon dude

‘New York Jerusalem berlin’ is one of their best closers

Nah.

Their best closer.

I don’t mind the keats/yeats like but it’s be a lot funnier if he mispronounced yeats imo

i like "rich man" and "my mistake" a fair bit but that's certainly the weakest stretch

"jerusalem, new york, berlin" is fantastic but "i think ur a contra" is still my favourite of their closers

heh -- my pick for worst song of their career through 2011. I didn't care about the literate lyrics or whatever -- I could not stand the untethered track and Koenig's vocal tone.

it’s funny that he sings the keats line, i like to imagine she was too embarrassed lol

rich man -> married in a gold rush -> my mistake -> sympathy -> sunflower

i don’t really dislike any of these songs but this run kills the album. album kicks ass both before and after it but also feels like it’s constantly getting started until it ends

― american bradass (BradNelson)

Yeah, I totally know what you mean. I had that same feeling earlier today although I've come to love Sunflower now.

I like Rich Man!

it'll prob grow on me

xp I do too. also like both of the steve lacy collaborations. haven't listened to the album as a whole to see how it flows

Two drum kits : now that’s getting serious !
https://youtu.be/l7RTO8uqUB8

rich man -> married in a gold rush -> my mistake -> sympathy -> sunflower

i don’t really dislike any of these songs but this run kills the album. album kicks ass both before and after it but also feels like it’s constantly getting started until it ends

― american bradass (BradNelson), 8. maj 2019 00:58 (seven hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Ezra keeps talking about the album as a double lp, so I don't think this is meant to run together. I agree, it's a but much, but I like Married in a Gold Rush as the end of one side, and while I don't like My Mistake, I think Sympathy -> Sunflower -> Flower Moon -> 2021 is a pretty good LP side. Weird as hell.

hmm i don't really like that jammy version of jerusalem new york berlin, that approach has worked for a lot of the other tracks from this album live but not this one. the sparseness of the album version with just the piano & bass synth is really what makes it work

« Gold rush » and « rich man » being among my favourites, I have no problem with that part of the album !
For me there are 3 main sections :
- « hold u » / « big blue »
- « unbearably white » / « sympathy »
- «  flower moon » / « jerusalem »
(I always skip « how long » and « sunflower »)
At this point I’m not sure which of these 3 parts I prefer...